Guidelines for and obstacles to focusing on student learning outcomes as the primary educational goal are presented in this paper. Five obstacles that impede the focus on student outcomes are the beliefs that: learning should be normally distributed; education's purpose is to select talent; the purpose of testing is for evaluation only; curriculum and instruction are ends in themselves; and specifying outcomes diminishes the creative process. Guidelines for improving student learning include: (1) think big, start small; (2) utilize teamwork; and (3) focus on success. (9 references) (LMI)